CHESTER PA – The Creatine gelding Take All Comers has won three of his last four races, all at Harrah’s Philadelphia, after taking the big share of the purse in the $20,000 Open handicap trot Sunday afternoon at the southeast Pennsylvania oval.
Hayek pushed the favored Take All Comers, who started from the assigned outside slot in a field of seven, but the chalk was able to wrest command from him right after a :27 quarter. He got a breather to a :56.1 half, then was asked by driver Troy Beyer to speed up down the backstretch, hitting the three-quarters in 1:23.4 with only Hayek able to stay close. The two-holer gave it his best stretch shot, but Take All Comers, a winner of $599,171, held him off by 1½ lengths in 1:52.3 for trainer Jim Campbell and Runthetable Stables.
Even faster on the trot on the Sunday card was the 2022 Maxie Lee Trot winner here, Lovedbythemasses. The Muscle Mass gelding took the lead in a :27.2 opener, yielded to sit the pocket behind Eurobond and fractions of :55.4 and 1:23.4, then zipped home to be three lengths clear of that rival in a sparkling 1:51.4. Lovedbythemasses, now the possessor of a $717,226 bankroll, was driven by Todd McCarthy for trainer Jeff Cullipher, also co-owner with Pollack Racing LLC.
Quickest on the pace was the Stay Hungry sophomore gelding Brue Hanover, undefeated in four starts for trainer Ron Burke after putting up splits of :26.3, :55.4, and 1:23, then holding off pocketsitter All Class by a neck in 1:50.3. Simon Allard (a four-time winner on the day) steered the developing three-year-old for owner Brad Grant.
Harrah’s Philadelphia is currently racing Wednesday through Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40. . Program pages for all races at Harrah’s Philadelphia are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.